If you operate a fixed laboratory gas system in the UK, PSSR regulations apply to you. Here's what that means and what you're required to do about it.
PSSR stands for Pressure Systems Safety Regulations. Under pssr 2000 regulations, any business that owns or operates a pressurised gas system - including fixed laboratory gas installations - must have a written scheme of examination in place and have that system inspected and maintained annually. The regulations apply to systems containing relevant fluids: gases under pressure, including compressed gas cylinders and fixed pipeline installations.
The accompanying ACOP (Approved Code of Practice) on the safety of pressure systems gives practical guidance on how dutyholders can meet those requirements. Operating without a written scheme is a legal breach, not an administrative oversight.
Many labs know something needs doing but aren't sure what, or who's responsible for doing it.
If any of these sound familiar, you're in the right place:
New to a lab manager or health and safety role
Recently told by an insurer or auditor to check compliance
About to go through an HSE inspection
Aware of PSSR but never acted on it
Inherited a gas system with no paperwork to show for it
Unsure whether their setup counts as a fixed system
PSSR regulations uk apply to any fixed, pressurised laboratory gas system - not just large industrial setups.
PSSR applies wherever there is a fixed pressurised system containing relevant fluids. If your lab has gas supplied through fixed pipelines from cylinders or a manifold, you're almost certainly in scope, whether you're in a university, pharma facility, food testing lab or research environment. The design of the system - whether it's a simple two-outlet bench supply or a multi-lab installation - doesn't determine whether the obligation exists. Your setup may be in scope if it includes any of the following:
Fixed pipelines supplying gas to instruments
Gas stored in cylinders connected to a manifold
Compressors or generators feeding a pressure vessel
Multiple labs served from a central gas cage
Any system you can't simply move along the corridor
If you're uncertain whether your setup falls under PSSR, a free site survey will tell you.
You might think PSSR simply doesn't apply to your situation.
If you are the dutyholder - the owner or user of a laboratory gas system - the legal obligation sits with you. Where health and safety responsibility falls within a job role, the individual carrying that role is accountable if something goes wrong. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) can request documentation at any point, and examination reports must be available to demonstrate ongoing compliance. Under PSSR, your responsibilities include:
Having a written scheme of examination in place
Annual pssr inspection carried out by a competent person
Keeping examination reports and compliance records
Ongoing maintenance of components to defined standards
Ensuring out-of-date components are replaced
Knowing what your system contains and where the paperwork is
Labs that muddle through without proper PSSR compliance often don't notice a difference day-to-day - gas components can last well beyond their five-year expiry without obvious failure.
The risk is that when something does go wrong, or when an auditor or the Health and Safety Executive asks for documentation, there's nothing to show. Compressed gas stored under high pressure represents significant stored energy, and pressure equipment that isn't inspected and maintained to its safe operating limits is a genuine hazard. Protective devices such as safety valves exist for that reason - and they need to be checked.
Getting into compliance is straightforward once you know what you have. The starting point is understanding your current setup and whether a written scheme exists.
For most labs, the process follows four steps:
Book a free site survey to assess the design and scope of your system
Get a written scheme of examination drawn up for your system
Schedule your first annual pssr inspection against defined safe operating limits
Put an ongoing maintenance and management plan in place so renewals don't slip
To operate your gas system legally in the UK, you need a written scheme of examination and annual inspections against it. Everything else follows from those two things.
For labs that don't currently have documentation in place, or who aren't sure whether what they have meets the standard, the free site survey is the practical first step. We are BCAS Competent Examiners with ISO 9001 accreditation, working with laboratory gas systems - including hydrogen, acetylene and other specialist gases - across the UK.
We prepare written schemes of examination specific to your system, signed off by a competent person, then carry out annual inspections against them.
Examination reports are issued after each visit and held on record, accessible immediately if you ever need them for an audit or HSE query.
Annual PSSR inspections are carried out by qualified competent persons. Where components are due to fail, we bring replacements on the day so the visit ends with a fully compliant, signed-off system - with no second visit needed.
For labs where staff handle gas cylinders or operate gas systems, training is available to ensure everyone working with the system understands safe handling and their responsibilities.
If gas is supplied through fixed pipelines from cylinders or a manifold, the size of the setup doesn't determine whether PSSR applies. A single lab fed by fixed pipelines is in scope. The only systems generally excluded are truly mobile ones - a single cylinder with a regulator that moves between rooms, for instance. If you're unsure, a site survey will give you a definitive answer without any obligation to proceed.
A written scheme of examination (WSE) is the document that defines your gas system and sets out the criteria - including safe operating limits - against which it must be inspected. Under pressure systems safety regulations 2000, you need one before inspections can have any legal standing. It doesn't change unless your system changes, so once it's in place you're inspecting against a fixed standard year on year.
Annual inspections are the standard requirement for most laboratory gas systems. The written scheme of examination specifies the frequency, but in practice, a 12-month cycle applies to the vast majority of fixed laboratory installations. Ongoing maintenance between inspections is the dutyholder's responsibility.
No. Insurance inspections confirm that compliance activity has taken place. They don't constitute a PSSR inspection. If there's no written scheme of examination and no examination report from a competent person, you're not compliant, regardless of any insurance visit. A Glasgow Union case illustrated this precisely: a new insurance inspector arrived asking for the gas inspection paperwork, only to find the lab had assumed the insurer was providing it.
Under PSSR, inspections must be carried out by a competent person - someone with the qualifications and experience to assess pressurised systems against a written scheme. Our engineers hold BCAS Competent Examiner certification and carry documentation to demonstrate this. If you've had inspections done by someone without that qualification, those examination reports may not satisfy a PSSR compliance check.
Failed components are recorded in the examination report. Where a pressure vessel forms part of the system, wall thickness and protective devices including safety valves and safety relief valves are checked, along with pressure gauges on regulators to verify the correct pressure is being delivered. We forecast which components are likely to fail before the visit and bring replacements on the day where possible, so the system is passed and signed off in a single visit.
Book a no-obligation free site survey and we'll tell you exactly where you stand.
Call now on 01259 222 600.
